2. Whether UConn is worth it depends on where 3.0 lies on their curve. If it is far below the median then I'd say go for it. If it is slightly below median then it is iffy. If it is above median then I would so it's not worth it.

3. Don't go trying to transfer because you will need good grades (e.g. top 10%) from UConn to transfer and you have a 90% chance of that not happening.

4. If you really want Fordham or a better chance at NYC then you should retake/reapply to get scholarship money from Fordham or go to a school that places better in NYC and gives you a decent chance at repaying sticker price debt (i.e. T14).

Fordham PT? If so, if you can get a job that will cover about 25k+ of your expenses, you should be alright. If not, it's a big risk.

Also, to bk1, Fordham doesn't really give out big schollies or much at all. something like 30% of kids gets anything, and it's like 90+% less than half tuition (or so the article on TLS said, can't find it now)

Yeah, Fordham is stingy because they don't have any money. They don't have a huge endowment because their undergrad is not very good and they don't have a lot of donors. The scholarships they give out are almost pointless- I got 15K/yr and it still would have been nearly 200K COA to go there.

If you are absolutely OK with Connecticut, then UConn is probably fine. Drop out if below median so you don't waste the next 2 years of your time (even if it's free). If you really want NYC, retake/reapply.

glolaw wrote:thanks for all the advice so far. i'm dead set on attending school this year so retake/reapply is not an option.

any other advice?

I never understand the whole "dead set on going this year" thing. Why? Something going on that is going to prevent you from waiting a year? T14 at sticker or T25 with money in a year is gonna be a hell of a lot better than these options. The idea is not to get into law school as quickly as possible.

ndirish2010 wrote:Yeah, Fordham is stingy because they don't have any money. They don't have a huge endowment because their undergrad is not very good and they don't have a lot of donors. The scholarships they give out are almost pointless- I got 15K/yr and it still would have been nearly 200K COA to go there.

If you are absolutely OK with Connecticut, then UConn is probably fine. Drop out if below median so you don't waste the next 2 years of your time (even if it's free). If you really want NYC, retake/reapply.

I would have to say this is bad advice. If you lose the scholly, then maybe consider it, but if it's free, definitely stay. I am from CT and a UConn degree can get you gainful employment in CT. You are only competing with Yale (most people want to do bigger and better things than work at CT firms) and Quinnipiac (TTT). A lot of the best lawyers in the state are UConn grads, and no one is going to sneeze at you over a UConn degree. I think this is the better choice for OP, as he can still break into NY with top grades, but doesn't risk as much if he doesn't do great. At Fordham, more BigLaw options might be on the table with good grades, but the risk is way, way bigger if things don't go well. Best of luck to you OP. I'd snag the scholly at UConn.

Honestly even though you're paying full price for Fordham, the job opportunities that Fordham gives are pretty great. I would go there. I would not say this about other schools in T30 or even T20. But Fordham has incredible placement in biglaw in NYC which is the biggest market. Just as long as you're not below median.

Eco wrote:Honestly even though you're paying full price for Fordham, the job opportunities that Fordham gives are pretty great. I would go there. I would not say this about other schools in T30 or even T20. But Fordham has incredible placement in biglaw in NYC which is the biggest market. Just as long as you're not below median.

Woah, lets be a realistic here. Fordham definitely provides much better placement options than UCONN, but does not place 50% of the class into big law jobs. It is more like 25%. This is a personal choice about how much debt you want and make sure to look at the real options each school provides and their respective costs before deciding.

I say this as a the recipient of a full-tuition, non renewable scholarship with no stipulations. (and I got in to Fordham without being waitlisted, so it would seem strange that UConn would offer us different scholarships)

Also to address a concern raised previously in this thread, the curve @UConn is 3.0

UConn does have some bizarre scholarship rules. But when you're looking down the road, if you want to work CT gov't then UConn is a fantastic option. The DA's office is literally on campus. BigLaw will need fantastic grades, but the same goes for Fordham. Also, right now Fordham's facilities are in a sorry state and a new building is in the works, but ground hasn't been broken yet so you wouldn't reap those benefits. Unless you want to do some specialty like fashion law that you can't get at UConn, I'd probably stick with the money.

ko2689 wrote:UConn does have some bizarre scholarship rules. But when you're looking down the road, if you want to work CT gov't then UConn is a fantastic option. The DA's office is literally on campus. BigLaw will need fantastic grades, but the same goes for Fordham. Also, right now Fordham's facilities are in a sorry state and a new building is in the works, but ground hasn't been broken yet so you wouldn't reap those benefits. Unless you want to do some specialty like fashion law that you can't get at UConn, I'd probably stick with the money.

DA's office is not on campus. That's one of the offices of the CT Attorney General, who only represents the state in civil matters. In Connecticut, the prosecutor's office is the State's Attorney. Unfortunately, the proximately of the AG's office to our campus doesn't seem to matter much- they're doing their own thing in an entirely separate building/facility.

I agree with the rest of this post though. Unless you're dead-set on NYC, UConn w/scholarship is probably better than Fordham at sticker. I made the same choice myself. Consider the cost of living!

ko2689 wrote:Also, right now Fordham's facilities are in a sorry state and a new building is in the works, but ground hasn't been broken yet so you wouldn't reap those benefits.

I would go UCONN in this situation also, but the above is false. Ground was broken symbolically in the fall, but in reality in early March or so. Nonetheless, the estimated completion date is over summer of 2014 I believe, so this year's class would just miss out.